The first exhibition of a Latin American artist in London

The National Gallery in London presents for the first time an exhibition dedicated to a Latin American artist.
With 30 works traveling from Mexico, this monographic exhibition on Velasco reshapes the history of 19th-century art with a perspective that begins with the landscape to speak of identity, history, and nation.

It is refreshing to see an exhibition of Mexican artists abroad that goes beyond Diego Rivera or Frida Kahlo. It is therefore encouraging that the National Gallery in London opened its new exhibition, José María Velasco: A View of Mexico, on March 29th.

This is the first exhibition that this renowned and visited museum has held on a Latin American artist, the first solo exhibition on Velasco in Europe, and the first of the artist outside of Mexico since 1976, when one was held in the United States.

Perhaps surprisingly, the truth is that outside of his home country, this great artist is little known. However, curators Dexter Dalwood and Daniel Sobrino Ralston, Curator of Spanish Paintings at the National Gallery, are managing to change this reality.
The exhibition celebrates 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. For this purpose, 30 public and private works by Velasco have traveled from Mexico and other cities and will hang on the walls of the renowned museum until August 17.
Velasco is known for painting landscapes of Mexico, but his works go far beyond a topographical or decorative representation of the territory. In his canvases, the landscape becomes a narrative tool, charged with historical, political, and cultural symbolism.

As curator and artist Dexter Dalwood explains, “Velasco's best paintings naturally immerse you in his aura, inviting a more deliberate and deliberate observation. It feels as if you can slow down time and capture an instant, freezing it before you with a studied and persistent gaze that solidifies the scene. For Velasco, the Valley of Mexico serves as a vehicle that encapsulates both an instant in time and its passage, along with its imprint on the Mexican landscape. This also includes the human impact on the environment and the significant places that have emerged within it. His unique pictorial approach skillfully integrates the viewer, prompting reflection on the themes he seeks to convey.”
The exhibition greets visitors with a monumental view of the Valley of Mexico from Santa Isabel Hill, one of Velasco's best-known works, which belongs to the MUNAL.
About this painting, Sobrino commented: “This panoramic view from Santa Isabel Hill, painted in the spring of 1875, combines precise observation with deep and complex symbolism, uniting centuries of Mexican history and three distinct eras. The figures in the foreground evoke the rich pre-Hispanic history of the Valley of Mexico, dating back to the founding of Tenochtitlán by the Mexica in the 14th century.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the foot of Tepeyac Hill, built during the reign of the Spanish viceroys, and the modern capital in the distance evoke other, more recent chapters in the nation's past. The large canvas was first exhibited in Mexico City before being sent to the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and Velasco proudly signed the work with his name and nationality.”

At a time when museums in Europe are beginning to look beyond the traditional canon, this National Gallery exhibition not only revives one of the most important artists of the 19th century in Mexico but also opens a window into the work of an artist fundamental to understanding Mexico's visual identity. It invites European audiences to rethink art history from a broader and more complex perspective and to look at Latin America with fresh eyes. This exhibition recognizes the power of landscape as a historical document, as an affirmation of identity, and as a testament to a profoundly national perspective. At a time when conversations about decolonization and diversity are gaining momentum in museums around the world, Velasco's arrival in London is both timely and necessary.
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